The last militia skidded to a halt and turned to flee. But the Adrenalite picked him up by his armour, spun him upside down and slammed him head-first into the ground. His neck snapped with a piercing cracking sound.
Sparks realized his mouth was hanging open, and quickly closed it. He hadn’t seen anybody move so quick before. “You’re Candle,” he said slowly, knowing as he said it that he was right. There was something in the way the man held himself that made it obvious he didn’t take orders from anybody else — it reminded Sparks of Roman.
The Adrenalite turned to him. “I am. But who the hell are you? I don’t remember freeing you.”
“I’m the best fighter in Legacy.” Sparks held out his hand. “And if you do me the favour of activating me, I’d like to prove it to you.”
Candle pushed Sparks’ arm aside, grabbed him by the jaw and twisted his head around to examine his tattoo. He scowled, then let go and shoved Sparks to the ground. “I’ve heard of you. You’re that traitor.”
Sparks rubbed his jaw — Candle might have broken it if he’d squeezed it any tighter. “I’m not a traitor.”
“Then explain why you were working with a fucking bounty hunter.”
“Roman was my master, I had to do what he said. Or I thought I did. Not anymore. I left him. He was an asshole, and a liar, and weak. I came here to join you instead.”
“Why do you want to join me?”
It didn’t take long for Sparks to think of an answer. “I want to fight. It’s the only thing I’m good at. And if I follow you then I get to fight against Juliette, and I can’t think of anyone I would rather kill.”
Candle nodded, holding out his hand. “If you make me regret this, I’ll rip your spine out of your body.”
“You could try.” Sparks took Candle’s hand and climbed back to his feet.
Candle unstrapped one of the adrenaline needles from his forearm and stabbed it into Sparks shoulder. Sparks grinned, stretching his arms wide, feeling his second heart come alive again.
“Let’s go,” Candle said.
“Which way?”
“Just follow me.”
Sparks did.
28
Roman, Tan, and Caleb approached the station from the west side. Tan gave Roman a sideways glance, eyebrows raised. “We’re really doing this, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. We are.”
Roman paused when they reached the fence that encircled the station. Standing at three yards high, the top of the fence was lined with barbed wire.
Caleb stopped beside him. “You remember our deal about Sparks?”
Roman nodded. “A deal is a deal.” He hooked his fingers into its steel mesh and began to climb. The fence shook with his weight. Just before the top, Roman removed his jacket and hung it over the barbed wire. He carefully swung one leg over. Even through his coat, the barbed wire ripped at his thighs and hands. Cursing, he pulled his other leg over and dropped to the ground on the other side.
Tan followed after him, somehow he managed to make the climb look almost graceful. A gunshot echoed, somewhere close. Roman flinched. He pulled out his own revolver and looked around, but there was nothing around save from rusted and broken machinery.
Tan landed with a soft thump, rubbing at a gash across his arm. “It’s almost as though there were trying to keep people out,” he said, pulling Griff’s knife from his belt. “Can’t imagine why.”
“Anti-social bastards,” Roman replied.
The fence nearly collapsed as Caleb pulled himself over it. He dropped down beside Roman with an impact that shook the ground.
Roman led the way through the station, keeping his head low and his pistol raised as he darted between the buildings and machinery. It was a maze of alleys, half of which were blocked by rubble. Roman paused at each corner, checking the path was safe before continuing. No sign of anyone so far. But the screaming and shooting quickly grew louder as they got deeper into the station.
“The ministry didn’t give a shit about this place,” Caleb muttered, kicking a stack of rusted steel bars that blocked off a side path.
“They’ve had bigger problems,” Tan said. “Kinda like we do now. How the heck are we meant to find Candle in this mess?”
Roman frowned. They needed a plan, but they had no way of tracking Candle. They didn’t even know what he looked like. And if they found him, what then? “I’m working on it,” he said.
The crack of gunshot sounded, somewhere to their left. It was close. Too close. The shot was quickly followed by a howl of pain.
“Screw this.” Roman moved to the nearest building. “Caleb, give me a boost.”
Caleb knelt, offering his shoulder as a foothold that Roman used to climb onto the roof. From here, he looked over the station. A hundred yards away the blue form of an Adrenalite leapt across the rooftops, away from Roman. To his right, two militia with crossbows strapped across their backs were climbing one of the steel towers.
The roof shook as a girl landed across from Roman, barely five yards away. Her bare chest glowed blue. Tendrils of light reached down to her forearms, crisscrossing with blood running down from a wound in her shoulder — a thin metal needle was caught through her flesh.
Roman raised his pistol. The girl spun to the side, moving with inhuman speed. Roman’s finger tensed on the trigger, but he didn’t shoot. He couldn’t waste a shot.
“Do it, you bastard,” the girl hissed, beginning to circle him. She was young, barely a teenager. Black hair and dark eyes. Roman’s heart hammered in his chest as the girl slowly drew closer. He closed one eye, lining up the shot.
She charged.
Roman fired.
The bullet took her in the cheek, spraying blood. She barely flinched. She slammed into his chest, driving the wind out of his lungs and sending them both tumbling over the edge of the roof. As they fell her hand closed around his neck.
Roman’s shoulder hit the ground first. Waves of pain stabbed through him. He tried to roll away. But suddenly he was on his back, pinned, with both her hands crushing his windpipe.
A huge arm wrapped around her chest and pulled her off. Gasping for air, Roman sat up, hastily searching for his gun. How could he have let himself drop it?
“Arrrrgh! You bitch!” Roman looked up to see Caleb retreating, clutching a bloody arm.
The girl advanced on Caleb, blood dripping from her teeth — she had bitten his arm, tearing off a slice of skin. The lines of light extending from her chest now only reached her shoulders. Roman shook his head, confused. Those lines should be growing longer, not shorter.
Tan charged at her from the side, knife flashing as he swung it at her throat. She ducked, darting around Tan. With one punch she sent him flying into the nearest wall.
Roman saw his gun. Right beneath the girl’s feet. Just my fucking luck.
He crawled forward. With her back to him, he had a chance to—
She spun around, aiming a kick at Roman’s head. He rolled aside, scrambling to his feet. Her knee slammed into his chest and he was thrown backwards, but managed to turn it into a roll and land on one knee. She advanced on him, scowling. Blood poured from her mouth and the hole in her cheek.
Caleb tackled her from behind. Her head hit the ground with a crunch. He pinned her down, a rock in his hand, and slammed it into the back of her head.
Then Caleb was in the air, flying backwards, and the Adrenalite was back on her feet. She paused, slowly looking down to stare down at her chest. Roman followed her gaze.